Boom! Studios 2017
Written by Ryan Ferrier
Illustrated by Carlos Magno
Coloured by Alex Guimaraes
Lettered by Ed Dukeshire
Last issue Zaius went to the fallen Lady Liberty to clear any remains of Taylor only to find a dead female Kong washed ashore. Taking Cornelius and Zira along with Argus and some of his men they set out to find Skull Island. They found others of their kind in Africa and while not likely to make a worldwide network they moved on until coming ashore on Skull Island.
Now it’s time for the search party to go ashore and experience Skull Island in all it’s glory. Ryan does some work here that to be honest I found surprising. Perhaps it’s been a long time since I’ve seen the original Planet of the Apes so I cannot accurately recall that Zira and Cornelius were prone to argue with one another. The not quite bickering but as Zaius said “Matrimonious Baggage” as they are loving and caring and constantly acting as if the other were old and in need of assistance. I like it in a way because it not only shows their love for each other but it gives them a lot more depth of character than perhaps we have seen in along time.
Ryan is very obviously a fan of both these franchises. Otherwise we wouldn’t be getting the level of storytelling out of him that we see here. The way the book is structured, how we see things develop and unfold, the overall ebb & flow of the book is a wow factor alone. I enjoy the fact that we see so much that is both familiar and brand new. Kong is not exactly an easy one to write but he’s more emotion and relying upon the artist to make a point. The denizens of the Island vary and only few speak so there is an opportunity that lies within for Ryan to make more of a mark. In the meantime we’ve got some damn dirty apes that we all know and love on Skull Island.
Personally this must have been a dream come true, to be able to take such iconic characters and have them explore the island, believing it built by apes, to find ruins and creatures that inhabit no where else in this world. The fun in picking and choosing what can come alive or which species will come to attack and then to be able to show the reactions and yes I’m mainly talking about Zaius because for all his power the man is a horrible coward. As a fan it’s one thing because there are no forces in Heaven or an Earth that could take the joy away from me experiencing it so as a writer and artist I wonder how that felt for them?
Good god almighty this keeps me shouting the praises of Carlos and the work that he does. I mean how often do we get to be regaled by the level of attention to detail that he brings to the page? His use of page layouts and the angles & perspective we see in the panels show off his brilliant eye for storytelling. His imagination and creativity are on full display as makes the Apes dead on familiar to what they should be and letting the freak flag fly with the denizens of the island. Gotta give some mad props to Alex too because he has to colour all this and what he’s given that’s gonna take some time I imagine and that he can do his thing to make the interiors even better well hot diggity!
I love that we are getting this crossover and I find it slightly ironic that Boom! Has the rights to both franchises and we haven’t seen this done before now. We’ve seen them team the POA with Start Trek and Green Lantern—both of which were amazing—but within the company crossovers don’t seem to be thought of as much. So I don’t know if Ryan pitched this as an idea or if someone approached him with it but either way from the bottom of my heart thank you!
The search party finds themselves on the Island and they’ve encountered friend and foe alike and they even get to have a very unique experience in the process but for all that you need to read the book or wait until next issue when I reveal things it won’t be as spoilery in nature. This really is a fanboy and fangirls dream come true.